budget deal may be painful indeed. the average american worker is currently out of work nearly 37 weeks, near historic highs. if congress does not act before the end of this year, 1.3 million of those americans will lose their life line, long-term unemployment assistance congress authorized back in june 2008. revisiting the theme of economic fairness and fair shake for american worker, this weekend president obama urged congress to extend these benefits. >> these are people we know. they are our friends and our neighbors. they sit next to us in church and volunteer in our communities. their kids play with our kids. they include 20,000 veterans who serve this country with honor. >> but reminding them of the american social compact hasn't lately been enough to sway republicans and certainly doesn't seem to be doing so now. appearing on abc, gop senator rob portman acted as if helping unemployed was some kind of strange exotic government

activity that didn't belong in normal funding discussions. >> $25 billion no one was talking about until the last week, so it's an additional cost within this budget agreement. i think the thought was this would be handled separately. >> but as usual on the subject of fairness, no republican can out-republican kentucky senator rand paul. >> i do support unemployment benefits for the 26 weeks they are paid for. if you extend it beyond that, you do a disservice to these workers. when you allow people to be on unemployment insurance for 99 weeks, you're causing them to become part of this perpetual unemployed group in our economy. >> joining me today, "washington post" columnist jonathan capehart, former white house press secretary and founding partner off-almost said founding father -- founding father and partner of inside agency robert gibbs, congressional reporter for buzz feed and political reporter and white house

correspondent at the "huffington post" sam stein. we talked a lot about the pizza versus the pizza box. after the gop autopsy, the republican conviction they didn't actually need to change the product they were selling, they just needed to change the marketing. it's unbelievable me, the whole 47% thing clearly has not made a dent. nowhere do you see that in a more pronounced fashion than republican talking points on unemployment. >> largely, if you ask most members of the gop, 47% to them wasn't a gaffe, it's a belief. i heard it in debates i had with people all of last year before the tape was uncovered. i do think, look, this is one of those things that the republicans will either learn this the easy way or the hard way. i remember watching these debates about unemployment insurance going back all the way to george r.w. bush and watching the democratic congress bring that bill up week after week after week only to have him veto

it. it is not heard ultimately to create a political narrative about who cares about what and who cares about something else. that is learned the hard way or the easy way. >> sam, especially when you look at the reality of the long-term unemployed. first of all as paul krugman points out, there are three times as many job seekers as job vacancies here. in 1970 there were less than 10 average weeks of unemployment. in 2013, 36.9 weeks, that's how long the average worker is unemployed. >> i think benjamin made a great point. >> back to the founding father. >> i think what rand paul misses is that people don't stay unemployed because they are lazy, on unemployment insurance for 99 weeks, they are

unemployed in part because the economy sucks and continues to suck, also because there's discrimination among employers against long-term unemployed. it's been documented. people tend to not want to hire people who have been out of work longer. it's a self-perpetuating cycle. the question becomes how do you get out of that cycle. what policies can you do to eliminate that cycle. i don't think this is a process that reverses everything but it certainly stops it from getting worse. >> it has stimulus benefits, too. >> the question is how do you pay for it, right? everything has to be paid for now. not in the past didn't always pay for unemployment insurance in the past. this is $25 billion. how do you pay for it? trying to figure out how to alleviate the sequester, how do you find $25 billion to ensure people don't lose unemployment insurance. >> first of all, kate, i'd love to know your thoughts on how democrats handled this on the hill. initially when discussed pelosi said we're not naeg the deal without inclusion of unemployment benefits.

it now looks like that may not be the case. democrats in congress are making at least what seems to be an assessment that, look, it's better to alleviate sequestration and deal with unemployment stuff later. i just wonder where the political will is to deal with unemployment insurance. if you're not going to deal with it now on the verge of the holiday season. >> democrats certainly aren't going to let it go. senator brown introduced a letter with 32 senators that said we need to deal with this and we need to deal with it soon. even if it doesn't end up in the bu budget, i don't think they will let it go, as a talking point that they know needs to get done in the next month or so. >> what is interesting to me, jonathan, is that we are talking about this deal as if there's actually a deal. part of the reason we think there's going to be a deal is because everybody has been sequestered -- not everybody but paul ryan and patty murray sequestered in some sort of pneumatically sealed chamber discussing this and we get dribs

and drabs of information. at the end of the day, this still requires paul ryan to go back to the raucous caucus in the house and sell something that involves increasing federal spending from where levels used to be. i'm unconvinced -- call me a skeptic. >> i hear you. you come to washington -- alex, here is the thing. it's paul ryan who has to go and make the sale, it's not john boehner who has shown an inability to convince this caucus of anything. so the fact that it's paul ryan, that's a market in his favor. >> the fact he exists as paul ryan, not john boehner. >> the other thing is in the "washington post" story today, this deal, assuming there is a deal, doesn't have any of the hard stuff that would knock a deal out -- blow a deal out of the water to begin with. so that there's an increase in spending, yeah, that might be a

problem. but all the hard decisions that usually have been in grand bargain deals aren't there. >> more optimistic about he can sell it to the house caucus. there has been complaints among republicans, especially on the appropriations committee, that sequestration is unlivable. >> that being the defense industry. >> yes, mostly. on top of that, the next which takes spending to $967 billion almost comes exclusively out of defense. another $20 billion cut around january 15th strictly from defense budgets. so there's an appetite among the hawkish wing of the house republicans to just get rid of this. they realize that if they are going to get rid of this, they have to give in a little bit. >> weirdly, sequestration is now having the impact they believed it would to get a deal in the first place, untenable budget cuts. i think jonathan's point is

really important. this is, if you're watching at home, this isn't the grand bargain. politics is the art of only the possible. the possible in this case is something very small. there is clearly no appetite for brinksmanship again. it is getting what they can get done. not getting into a bigger intractable fight that might shut down the government or cause really hard political pain on either side explaining to their base what they are getting but what they are giving up. this literally is the art of the possible and right now the possible is very, very very smart. >> i just wonder who really wins here. again, i think it's this town. the scepticism -- my sceptic levels are higher than they usually are, kate. i look at ui, unemployment insurance stuff, that may be carved out of this. yes, while increasing federal spending levels that's because congressional democrats have skroungd around for loose change

and found a way to pay for this stuff. this is all paid for. that is distinctly the goalpost has been moved right insofar as everything needs to be paid for. at the same time here we have the farm bill. we've had plenty of senate democrats on this show saying we are not going to go above the $4 billion of cuts that are in the senate bill. and now it looks like they are going to double those cuts. in addition to $5 billion, expired stimulus spending, that's $13 billion in s.n.a.p. >> all of this budget brinksmanship has distributed people from fighting over the real stuff like the farm bill. i think people would like to see a longer budget, even if a tiny budge so they can get back to talking about immigration. immigration advocates want a budget deal so maybe they can move on from talking about immigration reform or talking about the farm bill, which is hugely important. we haven't really heard a lot about it. >> to your point, an interesting number, in paul ryan's original

budget which everyone decried as incredibly conservative budget, the expected spending in 2014 was 1.09 trillion. we will end up with about $1 trillion if wets a deal, less than the original paul ryan budget. the debate has clearly been shifted. paul ryan had different assets delivering more to defense, nondiscretionary but clearly in a place where what we value as increased spending is relative to where we were incredibly low. >> robert, the president has been on a messaging campaign about fairness. his i thought great to osawatomie. >> potato potato. >> also an extension of the knox college speech in 2007. >> these are the themes, i think, of his presidency. also going into the second half of the second term and they couldn't come at a more

important time. not only is the economy in a certain place, i think a lot of people are asking, where are we in terms of our doctrine, in terms of the american democracy and social compact. >> i think you touched on a couple of things. we still have long-term unemployed, as sam said. if you're 55 or 56 or 57, you're losing that job, it is hard to get back into that workforce. what do you do with -- how do you train that group of people to be valued productive members of society before they get to a point which they would normally retire. what do you do with the income inequality -- household median income is where it was in the late 1980s. >> minimum wage is lower than it would be in 1969. >> it clearly isn't what it needs to be. and you know, also we've had -- we're having these kind of very ad hoc budget discussions, not necessarily having a what do we

want in government and what are we willing at all levels to pay for what it is we desire and want. i do think that is going to be -- it's going to be much longer-term project. my hunch is that is a project also that outlasts the current president and will go to whomever the next president is. i do think long-term inequality as the president again mentioned last week is a problem that can and must be addressed. >> i think, jonathan, as we round this segment out before we go to break, part of the reason it's been hard to have that conversation is precisely because one side of the aisle cannot agree on anything other than keep taxes low and somehow trickle down economics are going to solve all our problem. in that way the president's speech is incredibly forceful, spoken in an empty room. i don't know that the people that need to listen to it are

even listening or responding. >> they aren't listening. one, because they don't like the message. two, they don't like the messenger. you said something important epa folks need to hear again, the president's speech about income inquagt quality, this is something the president has been talking about since before he was president. this is consistent. i think what's changed now is the country has moved to a place where now they are ready to hear this message and want something done about it. the only problem is the other side. >> on that skeptical note we'll take a break. president obama is headlining a group of former u.s. presidents, dignitaries and heads of states who will attend tomorrow's memorial for nelson mandela while senator ted cruz is headlining a group of two dozen members of congress also making the trip.

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right now president obama and the first lady en route to south africa for nelson mandela's memorial service scheduled for tomorrow. they left washington on "air force one" this morning along with former secretary of state hillary clinton and former president george w. bush and his wife laura. president bill clinton and jimmy carter traveling separately to the service. two lawmakers part of a delegation heading to the country, 22 house democrats as

well as illinois republican and texas senator ted cruz. the memorial is expected to draw a who's who of leaders, david cameron, prince charles, afghanistan's hamid karzai and cuba's raul castro. joining me from south africa, nbc's ron allen. can you give me a sense of what it's like on the ground and the preparations that are under way. >> it's been an amazing few days since we've been here. in case you can't hear, it's raining, it's dark. there are still crowds out there chanting, choirs, is a mood of festivity, jubilation. also grief and mourning, but for the most part it's been a time of celebrating the life of nelson mandela. we've just achieved the official program for tomorrow. the service begins here around 11:00 a.m., which is 4:00 a.m.

in the united states. they are expecting 80,000 people to jam the football stadium and the overflow crowds in at least three or four other stadiums. on the program we see there are several of nelson mandela's grandchildren that will speak. there are marks by secretary-general ban ki-moon. there are also remarks by foreign dignitaries including president obama. he will be followed by the president of brazil, china, india, and raoul castro of cuba and finally remarks by jacob zuma from africa. quite a program, quite an emotional experience. there will no doubt be tens of thousands of people perhaps lining the route trying to get us near the football stadium where the event will take place. one of the largest gatherings ever the funeral of pope john ii. this may rival the number of people expecting. this is a day of full of passion for nelson mandela. >> live from south africa,

thanks for the update. robert, a lot of interesting things happening here. one, president obama on a plane with george w. bush and laura bush. president obama will be speaking right before the president of brazil with whom there's been, i would say, frosty relations given the fact we've been tapping her cell phone. >> he may know what she's going to say. >> very good. president castro will be speaking. into this mix we throw ted cruz. given all of that, i wanted to get your thoughts on president obama spoke the day nelson mandela passed away. from your experience with him as a candidate and through the beginning of his presidency, mandela was a larger than life figure for all of us but especially for this president there's a resonance there i'd love to get your thoughts on. >> i'm reminded -- when i heard

the news i was reminded in august 2006, i had the opportunity on a trip through africa with then senator obama. we spent half a day on robben island where nelson mandela spent 18 years of his life in a cell. i remember walking into that cell. i remember walking around the grounds. i remember going to the limestone quarries where they were made to basically crush rock to pass the time. i was trying to explain to my 10-year-old who was watching on tv that this person nelson mandela had died. walking my son through what nelson mandela had gone through. i thought, you know, hopefully what it teaches everybody is to have the ability -- if nelson mandela could put aside three decades or more of hostility, of violence, of just what he had to go through and what the people

of south africa had to go through just to be treated remotely equally, if he can do that, can't we in our either every day lives or also in the political discussions we have have a little bit more agreeability and a little bit less personal agreeability as we go about doing it. i do think it will be an emotional moment for the president. this is a singular figure quite frankly in world history thad we will essentially be saying good-bye to and marking the remarkable life of. >> robert makes a very important point. yet politics has not been absent in the days since mr. mandela's passing, kate. i think what had happened in some corners of the conservative blogosphere, twittersphere --

i'm not from the 20th century. please don't ask me to use these words. on his facebook page commenters, including this person who couldn't spend his name called him a commune nist involved in torture, terror, murder and they have lost a lot of respect for senator cruz. it's amazing to me the vitriol that exists in parts of american society. people like nelson mandela who should be a hero for everybody the world over and especially here in the united states. >> he was a political person so people are going to have political feelings about him. kudos to senator cruz for what's being said on his facebook and going. he obviously wanted to go. >> which is less about nelson mandela and more about ted cruz. jonathan, in fairness if we're talking about conservatives who are quote, unquote, doing the right thing, newt gingrich called nelson mandela one of the greatest leaders of our lifetime

and got a boatload of criticism. he said he was surprised by hostility and very hhement. >> this is the good newt, not the bad newt that called the president a food stamp president. this is good newt who recognizes nelson mandela for who he was and what he represented. to see newt gingrich to not only say a nice thing about nelson mandela and then to come back and go at his critics and forcefully was amazing. >> give newt credit because this is not a recent conversation on his part. when these debates were spilling over into the united states about sanctions and imprisonment, newt gingrich as a back bench congressman who would soon become a speaker was intellectually honest in saying, you know, what we did in

starting the american revolution was we used force against oppression. >> yes. >> he could not understand how conservatives could sit by and say, you know, we're not going to get involved in the notion of equal rights in south africa. newt deserves credit not just for this recent statement but for 20 years of being on the right side of this issue and ultimately of history. >> newt awarded mandela the congressional medal of freedom in 1995 or '96. we know there's two things newt really likes that we may also like. one of which is moon faces and we can agree on that and the other is nelson mandela. >> zeus. >> i don't like that. silence. a blast of winter weather cripples travel on the roads and in the skies and more on the way. a live update from the weather channel after this. as a business owner, i'm constantly putting out fires.

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a massive snow, sleet and ice storm is wreaking havoc across the country and there's more to come. the storm has made for treacherous conditions like this one, a 56 car pileup in pennsylvania that killed one person. at least 1300 flights canceled across the country today bringing the total to more than 4,000 canceled flights since sunday. joining me from andover, massachusetts is weather channel meteorologist jim cantore. jim, what is it like by you and what can we expect over the course of the next few days. >> alex, first of all, to add onto these airport things you've been discussing, airport data points, 5,000 flights just out of dallas alone, 5,000 flights out of dallas alone since last thursday. of the 1300 today, 720 are in

dallas-ft. worth. so even after the event we saw so much ice caked on the return ways it has not had time to melt. here in andover, massachusetts, 25 miles north of boston, it's just a drizzle. we started out at snow, 26 degrees this morning. you can see it covered the ground. interstate 93 behind me moving well. they know the drill here in new england. there's a lot more snow removal equipment up here than there is in dallas, texas, or washington, d.c., for that matter, to get the precipitation out of the way. everything moving along swimmingly this afternoon. there will be slick spots developing probably by the time tuesday night rolls around. before we get there, you just said it, we have another event we have to go through. this one will probably impact d.c., baltimore and philadelphia more than us up in new york and new england, even though we expect one to two inches of snow in new york and boston. you know what, d.c. and baltimore now have winter storm watches. if you look at some of the data, as a meteorologist i can tell you models suggesting anywhere

from three to six inches of snow coming in. that will be right during tomorrow's rush hour. once again, headaches on the roads, headaches at the airports. anybody who got ice with the last storm down that way will see snow on top of that ice. that means more power outages as well. wow, december coming in with a bang. >> indeed, indeed. i will just say given your report, i'm losing panelists on my set who are going to go grocery shopping to stock up on needed supplies for snow and ice. >> good call there. be ready. >> weather channel jim cantore, thanks for the update. we're scared. >> we're out of here. >> coming up next, president obama administers a dose of real talk about the administration's nuclear pabt with iran. can he keep sanctioning hungry members of congress from undermining the deal. we'll just that just ahead. clay.

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the white house is taking no victory laps after completing a deal with iran. the president made every effort to downplay the temporary agreement insisting that a failure to reach a broader deal was a very real possibility. >> why is this nuclear deal different than any other nuclear deal? >> we don't know yet. i think it's important for everybody to understand this is hard. if you ask me what the likelihood that we're going to arrive at the end state i was describing earlier, i wouldn't say more than 50/50 but we have

to trial. >> that acknowledgement israel and u.s. congress looking to pass a fresh round of sanctions this week despite repeated protestations from the white house that doing so would scuttle the deal with iran. on saturday president obama said fresh sanctions might make sense if long-term deal falls through but not before that. if at the end of six months we can't make a deal, we're no worse off. in fact, we have greater leverage with the international community to continue to apply sanctions and strengthen them. >> over in iran, president rouhani harolding the deal telling parliament the expectation of sanctions relief had already boosted his country's economy. the $7 billion in relief amounts to less than one month of iranian oil production and 7% of the $100 billion in frozen iranian assets that remain overseas. still any respite is welcome in an economy with 12% unemployment and 40% inflation. on sunday for the first time

inspectors from the u.n.'s nuclear watchdog toured the heavy water reactor at iraq. a sign that while there's plenty of scepticism some progress was already under way. robert, the president towed a careful line here. i thought his remarks were interesting. it seems like we're in the middle of what our good friend david axelrod likes to call kabuki theater, confident but not overconfident. i wonder about the deal back and forth between president obama and members of his own congress like bob menendez pushing this renewed sanctions deal. >> i do think you've got the potential collision of a lot of different time lines. the president, i think, is realistic to say there's a possibility of a deal but the deal can long move forward

long-term if iranians are willing to do things. if he understands that from colliding time lines politically you've got congressional members from both parties pursuing sanctions. you've got israelis against this deal. i think the one important thing the president has in his pocket, so to speak, the american people are supportive of a deal because they are so incredibly war weary. they understand if -- i think everyone understands if we can't figure out a diplomatic solution to the iran problem, that puts much more front and center having the use of force become a much more realistic problem. i have to tell you watching the polls in syria around that debate, there's going to be just that, if not more, when people get a little bit of an understanding of what the use of force against iran might look

like in the broader sense. that gives the president time and space he needs to pursue a deal, while he's realistic that he can't force iranians to do something they are not willing to do. i don't think the president will go too far. >> menendez said in iran they have hard-liners that give them a better negotiating position. why can't with have our version of hard-liners which include him and others pushing for sanctions. i feel like that's a very dangerous line to tread, insofar as president comes away with a deal that congress doesn't deem acceptable or tough enough, how do you sell it to them. >> what makes you think menendez isn't playing this role? there's a reason he's talking this. the administration needs to have. >> you think this may be the third level of kabuki theater? >> it could very well be. i think the most important point

in this whole debate is the one robert made, which is we have this knee-jerk reaction to things in which we assume being militaristic and hawkish is the politically popular thing to do. when we cover these events, we focus in on who is going to hail mary the president from the stance who is going to make him seem weak of the president ran on a platform of engagement. he said he was going to talk to his in miss. he did it in two campaigns. the public opinion polls bear out that's what the public wants. he's in a position of strength on this. i don't see why we should pretend he's in a position of weakness. what he needs to do is go out and let people know that, one, any criticism of him right now is basically saying he's going to get duped in this. there's ways to check whether iran is duping him. you can revert the deal. two, he's not asking for more than five months' time which is not that long when you consider these things. i know we're talking about nuclear enrichment here. if it's happening in realtime

and you have a five and a half month window, i think that's a fair amount to give him. that would be my argument. >> in the meantime sam talks about knee jerk conservative hawks, this is going to be spun as anything these days is spun as president obama, weakness of leadership, whether we actually are, facts frequently don't come into this. the view from capitol hill in terms of the right, folks much more skeptical any possible deal with iran, do they let up in their scepticism and say this actually seems like a good bargain. >> the difference is imposing further sanctions is a really bipartisan issue and has been for the last couple of years. passed by a really wide margin in the house. so i think what menendez is trying to do and trying to argue is that if we impose further sanctions, we can work into

sanctions bill room for a deal. that's where he is and what he's arguing. >> makes sense. any bill that emerges from a democratic senate will have to take that consideration. you can't undermine foreign policy. it will give obama time to see the deal through if it works and maybe they can go back and revert and say maybe they don't need to do sanctions. >> it is a work in progress, fluid situation. when we come back, members of the right flank would have you believe happy holidays is an affront to the way of life. culture warriors battle war on christmas, millions of americans fight just to have a christmas. we will discuss. i do a lot oresearch on angie's list before i do any projects on my home. i love my contractor, and i am so thankful to angie's list for bringing us together. find out why more than two million members count on angie's list. angie's list -- reviews you can trust. for all those who sleep too hot or too cool,

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sexual harassment. filner pleaded guilt yrky three charges of harassment, forcibly kissing one woman and groping another. >> i want to apologize to my family, who has stood by me through this ordeal, to my loyal staff and supporters, to the citizens of san diego, and most sincerely to the women i have hurt and offended. >> coming up, it must be that time of year, bill or rilz has started the official battle cry of christmas. the grimplgs actually feeling it next. there are trading opportunit

it is december and that can

mean only one thing, it is time for the war on christmas. >> even though many secular americans deny there's a war on christmas there is one. it is quite clear to anyone with a brain that there is a war between traditional americans and secular progressives in this country. >> the war on christmas is good business for bill o'reilly and conservative brethren who made a cottage industry out of defending santa claus from nonexistent% accuse. back in june in texas governor perry signed into law a merry christmas law removing risk of saying merry christmas in public schools. jonathan, i'm so relieved as rick perry is flashing social safety net and taking away women's basic reproductive freedoms he's making sure no one can get sued for saying merry christmas. >> thank you, governor perry. >> thank you, rick perry. >> what am i going to say to

this that won't have me cursing on air. >> we don't want to force you into that position. >> the war on christmas is this right wing construction to make it look like nonconservatives, progressives, liberals, democrats, even who is not them don't like christmas, don't love the lord. >> are not religious, faithful people and enemies of faithful people. >> so even discuss it is to sort of help them sell books, sell -- what's the word -- nontraversy. >> it's the war on people who don't want to spend on bill o'reilly's franchise. >> i'd like to declare a war on the war on christmas. >> i will say, though, sam, what's weird to me is how the narrative -- i'm using two pens. >> i'm jewish. >> this is where -- okay. the war on christmas is a

construct, it is a nontraversy. somehow o'reilly and conservative brethren have taken this position we're all for religious freedom. taking their judeo christian talking points making it hard to have religion insofar as saying happy holidays or nondenominational is somehow a war on christians. >> the whole thing is bizarre to me. if you think this is a bad war, you should see the war on hanukkah. this is war. >> i'm not terribly offended by people saying merry christmas in public places but i'm sure there are people who would like to have the ability to not have that shoved down their throat who are not christian. i don't get the whole burden of asking people to say happy holidays, it's fwe nine and fine to me. i'm jewish. who knows?

>> i'm trying to go back to a serious point. >> that was a serious point. i don't get what the cost is for having people say happy holidays. >> i feel like it is part of a more insidious narrative about separating people saying liberal progressives on this side and conservatives on this side. >> nrcc shirt that said liberals say happy holidays. on the back it said merry christmas, which they sold a lot of them. they sold out of them. >> they have been using happy holidays. >> sure. the vast majority of people don't care about this. christmas treous the capital has not been droned yet. it's still there. everything is okay. >> the real story, you know who is going to be really mad about this, when you open your gift and you have nrcc shirt, there's a war because people will think

that's an inappropriate gift. >> as you guys can see i'm waving the flag of humorlessness in the segment. i will say this, beyond the division and recrimination there's also the fact that war on christmas amid this debate over fairness and people being able to afford gifts and actually celebrate the holidays. leave our audience with this from the "new york times." a mother of two, works as $9 an hour cashier at sears feels left behind by festivities partly because she was scheduled to work 7:30 a.m. thanksgiving to 6:00 a.m. friday. i'm here by all these items and working to help these people and can't even buy my children the same products. she said, she has a son who wants a spider-man doll she cannot afford. that's the war on christmas. >> it reminds us one of the things, regardless of what you believe, regardless of how you

greet people in the holiday season, never forget those that are very much among us that don't have the opportunity to celebrate, that are going to go to bed at some point in this holiday, hanukkah or christmas season going to go to bed hungry and wonder where their next meal is coming from. that's a tragedy that is much greater than a war on christmas. >> it is actually what the holidays are actually all about, which is being part of a community and helping out the needyest and remembering what it's all about. wow, on that super heavy not cynical note, i will note this show is over. that you to jonathan, robert, kate and sam. that is all for now. i will see you back in new york city tomorrow at noon eastern. meantime robert gibbs and are i going to go shop for ready to eat meals. andrea mitchell coming up next.

>> i'm meteorologist bill karins. this winter storm, ice, cold, it just won't end. we've had one storm after another and now watching another arctic blast heading down from the great north. look at the high temperature in minneapolis today. minus 1. thankfully a lot of that icy weather we dealt with overnight and this morning is over with in areas in the northeast. drive carefully, the refreeze is tonight. [ sniffles, coughs ] shhhh! i have a cold with this annoying runny nose. [ sniffles ] i better take something. [ male announcer ] dayquil cold and flu doesn't treat all that. it doesn't? [ male announcer ] alka-seltzer plus fights your worst cold symptoms plus has a fast-acting antihistamine.

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he loves me. he loves me not. he loves me. he loves me not. ♪ he loves me! that's right. [ mom ] warm and flaky in 15, everyone loves pillsbury grands! [ girl ] make dinner pop!

>> right now on "andrea mitchell reports," the pilgrimage, 89 heads of state are making their way to south africa to honor nelson mandela, the man who became a symbol of freedom and reconciliation the world over. the president and first lady at this hour on "air force one," joined by president and mrs. george w. bush, former secretary of state hillary clinton. the president will join family and other leaders speaking at tomorrow's memorial service including cuba's president raul castro, a soccer stadium full of mourners will congregate to remember nelson mandela's life and hess enduring legacy. >> we think of you, your father, wonder of the world. >> in a moving tribute to her friend on behalf of the american people, maya angelou released

this video reciting a poem, "his day is done." she will join me to reflect on the man she calls the heart of africa. >> will i be able to remember all that i've learned from him, from his kindness and his generosity of spirit. will i remember? i thank god i do. >> and that wintry storm from north to south with snow, ice, freezing temperatures, it isn't over yet. we'll have the latest forecast on where it's headed next.